Girl, 4, Found Dead In Car May Have Been Left Behind After Daycare Carpool

LOS ANGELES, CA — An investigation is underway after a 4-year-old child was found dead inside a vehicle in the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday.

Officers responded at around 3:40 p.m. Tuesday to the 12700 block of McCormick Street, just north of Magnolia Street in Valley Village, in response to reports of an unresponsive child inside a vehicle, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Neighbors told KTLA that the girl was riding in a neighborhood carpool and was supposed to be dropped off at daycare. But somehow she was accidentally left inside the hot car for hours.

The girl was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Temperatures were in the upper 80s in the Valley on Tuesday.

It was not clear how long the child was inside the vehicle, and no further information was immediately available.

Criminal defense attorney Lou Shapiro was called to the scene by the wife of the car's driver, KTLA reported.

Shapiro told the station that the driver was not the child's parent and may have been a carpool driver. The lawyer said he did not know whether his client would be arrested.

“It’s always a possibility,” he said. “I’ve been told this is an active crime scene, so that could very well happen. I’m just being realistic about it.”

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City News Service contributed to this report.